CLEARFIELD – Karen Condon must have a way with Mother Nature, as Hidden Valley Speedway was finally able to get the season opened Friday with the 4th Annual Karen Condon Memorial for the Thundercars. That victory went to Jackson Eutzy of Shippensburg. He collected $700 for the win and lap money.

Other winners taking home trophies from the Condon Family include: Gary Little of Clearfield in the Semi Lates, Craig Casher of Mineral Springs in the Small Block Modifieds, Tim Steis of St. Mary’s in the Pure Stocks, William Kephart of Shilo in the Four Cylinders, it was Izzy Landis of New Port who copped the 600 Micro Sprint main and Dakota Shugarts of Clearfield won the Junior Four Cylinder main.

Justin Owens and Danny Gill brought the Semi Late Feature to the start, with the duo going door-to-door for ¾ of the first lap, before Gill took the lead going into the fourth turn. Little was working the inside of the multi-groove, dust free track, when he was able to wrestle the lead away from Gill on lap seven. Once out front, Little went on to the win the non-stop 20-lapper. Gill held on to second while Owens was third. Dylan Fenton and Craig Bainey were unable to start. The heat was won by Little.

The Small Block Modifieds saw Bob Alcorn and Trent Ogden on the front row, with Ogden taking the lead with Craig Casher quickly moving into second and Alcorn third. Chaser was trying the bottom and top to see which groove would work the best, he was able to get around Ogden on lap 11 using the outside lane. Once in the lead, Cashier was able to pull away from Ogden and cruise to his first ever opening night win.

The Karen Condon Memorial for the Thunder Cars was the main event, with 16 drivers answering the call for the special event honoring a very special lady we lost unexpectedly in 2021. Karen was an employee of Hidden Valley Speedway when she passed and one of this area’s greatest fans, she knew all of the drivers and was friends with most of them. We miss Karen dearly and appreciate her family keeping her memory alive with this race each year.

Kevin Bard and Cameron Defenderfer brought the Memorial race to starter Sam McClellan’s green flag, with Defenderfer taking the lead and Bard sitting in second. Jackson Eutzy was in third after starting fourth and Douglas Sales was in fourth. Defenderfer had a slight lead over Bard, as Eutzy was trying to work his way into the second spot. On lap three the fourth caution waved, for a spinning Charlie Stallman.

The restart saw Defenderfer still in the lead, and the top three stayed the same with Jeremy Eutzy now in fourth behind Jackson. On lap six, Jackson Eutzy moved into the second spot and he set his sights on the leader. Jackson Eutzy was looking high and low and he was finally able to find an opening on lap 10, as he took the lead from Defenderfer and held the rest of the field at bay to cross under McClellan’s double checkered flags to collect the $700 won and lap money. Jeremy Eutzy was second from eighth, Aaron Updegraff was third with Defenderfer fourth and Bard was fifth. Heat wins went to Updegraff and Stallman.

Ryan Jones and Eric Lucas sat on the front row of the Pure Stock feature, with Lucas darting into the lead at the start with Tim Steis moving into second and chasing Lucas the first three laps. Working on lap four, Steis dove under Lucas in turn three and took the lead and eventual win over Lucas, Jones, Austin Fenton and Brian Anthony. Steis also won the heat.

Jake Pennington and Luke Hoffner led the Four Cylinder field to the start, with Pennington taking the lead and Jason Elensky moving into second. On lap two, William Kephart took second and a lap later he moved past Pennington for the lead. Once out front, Kephart never looked back, as he went on to pick up the win easily over the field. Elensky was second with Hoffner, Zach Frantz and Eric Luzier rounding out the top five. Heat wins went to Kephart and Frantz.

The 600 Micro Feature saw Izzy Landis and Shawn Rumbaugh on the front row, and once McClellan waved that green flag, Landis was gone. She was setting a torrid pace and drove away to get the win easily over Rumbaugh, Lauren Stringfellow and Bob Potter. Stringfellow won the heat.

Dakota Shugarts was the lone Junior Four Cylinder on hand this week and he claimed the victory.

There were 45 teams in the pits for the season opener, including: five Semi Lates, five Small Block Modifieds, five Pure Stocks, nine Four Cylinders, 16 Thunder Cars, four 600 Micro’s and one Junior Four Cylinder

Watch  www.hiddenvelleyspeedway.net or our Facebook page for more details.